Mind Sports South Africa's (MSSA) blog on competitive gaming in South Africa from proto-computer gaming all the way through to the most modern. For more about MSSA go to: https://www.facebook.com/mindsportssa/
Should you wish to submit an article, please send it to mindsportssa@gmail.com. Please note that the editors reserve the right to decide on which articles to publish.

Sunday, 31 August 2014

Slitherine is recruiting: Programmers required, to work at our offices in Epsom UK.

• Required to work on our existing technologies including PBEM++ and STUB engines • To work on the Battle Academy engine; currently involving games such as Battle Academy 2, Hell, Pike and Shot and other titles not yet announced.• To work directly on other Slitherine internal projects. • Developers at all levels required with excellent interpersonal skills, to be responsible for supporting our external development partners.

Required Skills

• A knowledge and enthusiasm for our genre of games an advantage• Excellent C/C++ skills• Solid C# skills• Problem solving skills• Ability to work with external development teams

Advantages

• Previous professional games programming experience• Knowledge of PHP and other web technologies• Wargaming experience

Wednesday, 20 August 2014

Registrations are open for MSSA's MWEB 2014 Western Cape
LAN Championships.

The Western Cape Championships will be used for players
qualify for National Team Trials.

Registrations will close on the 21 August 2014.
Players who wish to compete in any of MSSA's
Championships are advised to complete their annual
registration forms so that they may registered as
Registered Players as soon as possible. Late entries will
be accepted in exceptional circumstances.

All gamers are reminded that the Western Cape
championships are an open championship.In other
words any registered player is entitled to enter
the championship – no matter where they live, or
their category of membership. If you have any
queries, please contact the MSSA.

Championship Details:

Hosting Club: Fairmont High School,
Durbanville, Cape Town.

Venue:Fairmont High School,
Durbanville, Cape Town.

Date:
23 & 24 August 2014

Entry Fees:
R60.00 per Registered Player per Period

Computers:
Bring your own. Please ensure that all
game updates are done prior to arrival.

Schedule:
The LAN Schedule for all 2014 is:

SATURDAY:

Time

StarCraft
II

Call
of Duty: Ghosts

League
of Legends (LoL)

Hearthstone

09H00

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

09H45

Round
2 Starts

Round
1 Continues

Round
1 Continues

Round
1 Continues

10H30

Round
3 Starts

Round
2 Starts

Round
2 Starts

Round
2 Starts

11H15

Round
4 Starts

Round
2 Continues

Round
2 Continues

Round
2 Continues

12H00

Round
5 Starts

Round
3 Starts

Round
3 Starts

Round
3 Starts

12H45

Round 3 Continues

Round
3 Continues

Round
3Continues

13H00

LUNCH

Time

TEKKEN
TTII

Call
of Duty: Ghosts

LoL
(continued)

Hearthstone
(continued)

14H00

Round
1 Starts

Round
4 Starts

Round
4 Starts

Round
4 Starts

14H45

Round
2 Starts

Round
4 Continues

Round
4 Continues

Round
4 Continues

15H30

Round
3 Starts

Round
5 Starts

Round
5 Starts

Round
5 Starts

16H15

Round
4 Starts

Round
5 Continues

Round
5 Continues

Round
5 Continues

17H00

Round
5 Starts

18H00

Awards Ceremony

19H00

Doors Close

SUNDAY:

Time

Dota

CounterStrike

OSU

FIFA
'14

09H00

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

Round
1 Starts

09H45

Round
1 Continues

Round
1 Continues

Round
1 Continues

Round 2 Starts

10H30

Round
2 Starts

Round
2 Starts

Round
2 Starts

Round 3 Starts

11H15

Round
2 Continues

Round
2 Continues

Round
2 Continues

Round 4 Starts

12H00

Round
3 Starts

Round
3 Starts

Round
3 Starts

Round 5 Starts

12H45

Round
3 Continues

Round 3 Continues

Round
3 Continues

13H00

LUNCH

Time

Dota
(continued)

CounterStrike
(continued)

OSU

14H00

Round
4 Starts

Round
4 Starts

Round
4 Starts

14H45

Round
4 Continues

Round
4 Continues

Round
4 Continues

15H30

Round
5 Starts

Round
5 Starts

Round
5 Starts

16H15

Round
5 Continues

Round
5 Continues

Round
5 Continues

17H00

18H00

Awards Ceremony

19H00

Doors Close

Rules and Regulations: All Rules and
Regulations pertaining to eSports are
available from the MSSA. Players are strongly
advised to familiarise themselves with the LAN
League Bylaws and all Period Specific Rules.
If any Player wishes to provide advice
regarding the drafting of the Period Specific
Rules they are encouraged to contact the eSBoC
who will take all comments into account.

The following Medals
may be awarded at the MSSA's 2014 North West LAN
Championship:

PREMIER:
Medals shall be awarded to the first three
players who are registered players.

SCHOLARS:
Medals shall be awarded to the first three
high school scholars, provided they have not
received any Premier medals.

UNIVERSITY:Medals
shall be awarded to the first three players
who are currently registered at any
officially recognised University, provided
the players have not received any Premier
Medals.

WOMEN:
Women will be awarded medals as per the same
basis as above, that is in all three
categories.

Colours and
National Team Trials:

National
Colours: All Players that win all of
their Matches at a National Championship
will earn National Colours.

Provincial
Colours: All Players that win all of
their Matches at a Provincial Championship
will earn Provincial Colours. All Players
who score within the top 50% in a specific
Period at a Provincial Championship, and who
also score within the top 50% at a National
Championship in the same period and in the
same year, will earn Provincial Colours.

National
Team Trials: All Players that score
within the top 20% or top three places,
whichever is greater, in a specific Period
at a Provincial or National Championship
will earn an invitation to National Team
Trials. National Team Trials shall be held
in the event that a National Team must be
selected to represent South Africa when
competing in such Period in an International
Championship.

Please note that the
MSSA does not carry stock of shirts that are
awarded. Registered Players who are awarded
colours will thus be awarded at an event
that they attend after being so awarded.

The next provincial; event is: The MWEB
Eastern Cape Championships that shall be
held on 28 & 29 June 2014.

Sunday, 10 August 2014

Just after the on-line
Test Match between South Africa on 8 August 2014, a gamer said to me,
“We (I presume he meant SA) should not be sending teams overseas,
we should only be spending all our money on teams in South Africa”.

I was flabbergasted!

Really!

How short sighted....

It is well known that
the standard of play in South Africa already falls far behind the
international norm, and yet here is a gamer actually advocating that
South Africa remains in its own little puddle.

Yes, by all means, let
us not test ourselves against international competition, let us only
play amongst ourselves.

To do that, would be a
travesty. South African teams would never, ever get any better and
would only ever be able to measure themselves against other mediocre
South African teams.

The MSSA, through the
MWEB sponsorship, is able to, year-on-year, send teams overseas to
help try and raise the standard.

Not only that, but the MSSA
also helps teams to go overseas. For example, in 2013, had it not
been for the help that the MSSA gave to Energy eSports, Energy
eSports would not have attended the ESWC.

The biggest problem
seems to be that South African gamers in general do not have a clue
about the standard of play in top line competition.

It is very
easy to tear down other people's efforts when sitting on the
sidelines and trying to put yourself up as a community leader when in
fact, you have no basis whatsoever to even claim that you are a
community leader.

Yes the 2013 Protea Team for Dota 2 was
ripped apart by Romania, and yes the 2014 Protea Team was beaten by
Egypt, but in the absence of continued and active participation by
South African teams on an international level, it is indeed difficult
to say if any other South African team could have done any better.

The reason I say that
is because the game changes in an international test match. There is
a lot more pressure. You know everyone is watching, and waiting for a
chance to criticize.

Just look at the 2013
Protea Team, 4 players were from Bvd, 1 from Energy, and a further 2
reserves from Energy as well. However, gamers immediately began to
criticize the team by saying that they were not good enough.

So, for all those
gamers who think that the MSSA should not be sending teams overseas,
I put it to you that you are looking at the issue with only yourself
in mind. You are not looking at the bigger picture of development,
growing the community and international participation. You are only
looking at it from a point of view of what you can get out out of
it.....

Saturday, 9 August 2014

With so few South African gamers having ever played against top
level international competition, the standard of eSports in other
countries often is a mystery to many South Africans. Just how good
are we, how much work do we still need to do in order to be on par
with the best, and where do we go from here?

As a result there are many misconceptions that exist based on the
lack of knowledge.

Thus the MSSA sees the IeSF's on-line international test matches are
an important part of establishing just where South Africa fits in
and highlights both the flaws and the strengths of South Africa's
gaming.

The MSSA too sees the on-line test matches as an important method in
testing and training the Protea National Team.

The test match against Egypt thus formed an important part in
getting the SA National Team ready for the 2014 IeSF World
Championship Baku.

Although Egypt is ranked lower than South Africa overall, the
current Egyptian Dota 2 team is considered by many to be one of the
world's heavyweights.

It is thus, without surprise, that the Egyptian team came out
strong, put the Protea's on the back-foot right from the beginning
and took the first game with a convincing win. That was expected!

However, the ever amiable Ion Todd, a UCT student, rallied his
troops and put on a strong showing in the second game. With
determination, the Proteas took a a fragile lead in the second game
from the beginning, but by half-way through the game, the Egyptians
wrested the lead from the Proteas to take a narrow victory in the
second game. It was clear that the international experience that the
Egyptian possessed gave Egypt the much needed advantage to take the
test match by two games to zero.

However, after the game, Ion immediately sat the team down, and they
analysed the game making extensive notes on where they went wrong,
and what they needed to do to correct their game.

Ryan Boyes, the National Team Manager, was heard to say, that while
it is never pleasant to lose, the games against Egypt showed the
character of the MWEB Protea Dota 2 Team and the resilience of each
one of the players. He was also heard to say that it showed exactly
what the MSSA needs to do in order to get the team up to speed, and
that he will be submitting his report with his recommendations to
the MSSA's Management Board as soon as possible.

Thus, the result against Egypt has left the MSSA in a very positive
mood as the MSSA remains confident and upbeat about its team and its
chances in Baku.

The test match was, after all, only the beginning of a long campaign
against teams with much greater international exposure and
experience.

Mind Sports South Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation of Sport and Olympic Committee.
The MSSA is responsible for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc), eSports (whether they are played on ?cell phones, Sony® PSP?s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games (also known as wargames).

Wednesday, 6 August 2014

2013 saw South Africa
participate for the first time in the IeSF's International On-line
Test Match system.

In 2013, the MWEB
sponsored South African team played against both Romania and
Mexico.
In both games the South African Protea Team played their hearts
out,
losing to Romania, but trouncing Mexico.

Thus with additional
experience, and after all due process has been followed, the 1st
ever
official Dota 2 on-line Test Match between South Africa and Egypt
is
just days away.

The Test Match will be
held on Friday, 8 August 2014 at 16H00.

Just prior to the test
match at 15H00, the Protea Team will be awarded their colours.

South Africa has
officially competed in international eSports events since 2005,
but
this is the first time that South Africa will be competing in an
official on-line test match in the game of Dota 2 against
Egypt.

Egypt has a thriving
eSports community, and is
determined to establish themselves as the leaders of eSports in
Africa.

With South Africa
being ranked as 10th in the world,
and the top nation in Africa, by the IeSF, no quarter will be
given
as both nations have a lot to prove, and even more to lose!

MWEB has kindly
allowed
the MSSA to use its Mcave which is located in its head office in
Cape
Town.

The venue was used
extensively in 2013 to host all of
South Africa's on-line Test Matches, and all of the MSSA's on-line
inter-regional and inter-provincial matches as well.

The MSSA is confident
that the National Team that will represent South Africa with pride
and honour, is without doubt the finest group of Dota 2 players in
the country.

The evening will begin
with the players being awarded their National Colours for eSports.
Thanks to the governing Sports Body, Minds Sports South Africa
(MSSA)
and the support given by MWEB Gaming , the award of such colours is
becoming a regular occurrence.

With eSports now recognised as
a fully recognised sport by both SASCOC and the government, gaming
is now taken more seriously than ever before. Already gaming has
been
included into the Asian Games by the Asian Olympic Committee.

The team is excited
about the event, and the South African team Captain, Ion TTodd, is
already locked in cheerful banter with his Egyptian counterpart.

There is no doubt that
the South African team has its work cut out for it. The Egyptians
are
not an easy match, and the team will be tested.

Since 1997, MWEB has
been championing a free web in South Africa. It has led the
industry
from the start with the introduction of the Internet to South
Africans to the launch of South Africa’s first Uncapped ADSL
product. Today, MWEB provides Internet connectivity and solutions
for
home users, business owners and large corporates.

Dedicated to
constantly
driving change in the industry and deploying world class research
and
development teams, MWEB is focused on removing all barriers to
Internet connectivity and services to positively impact its
customers
and broaden the South African Internet landscape.

MWEB is owned by
JSE-listed MultiChoice South Africa Holdings Limited, a Naspers
Limited subsidiary that has more than 30% Broad Based Black
Economic
Empowerment shareholders.

About Mind Sports
South
Africa

Mind Sports South
Africa (MSSA) is an affiliate of the South African Confederation
of
Sport and Olympic Committee.

The MSSA is
responsible
for the good governance and promotion of Board games (such as
Backgammon, Diplomacy, Checkers, Draughts, Morabaraba, etc.), Card
games, eSports (whether they are played on ‘cell phones, Sony®
PSP’s, personal computers or similar), and Historical figure games
(also known as wargames)